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mountain rifle caliber?

Have a lightweight mountain rifle in the works. Looking at running about a 24" barrel with a 700 action. Be used for mulies, antelope and possibly coyotes from time to time. Want a caliber capable of long range shots out to 800 yards or so. Looking at the 25-06, 6.5 rem mag, 6.5x284 or possibly something bigger with a as I want this lightweight. What's everyone's thoughts and opinions on a caliber

You can get a 7mm wsm from savage with the plastic stock that is very light weight and will kick like a mule. I just got my daughter a 7mm-08 youth model and am thinking about packing it on my next hunt. Very short but very packable. If I can get the eye relief rite I'm going to give it a try.

For a light weight rig, u would want to stay with a short action rifle. The 6.5x284 will be that bill and an excellent choice. Especially since you want to reach out and touch up to 800 yards. The 6.5x284 is winning a lot of the 1000 yard matches right now. It would be my choice with a 140 grain Berger VLD.

6.5x284 is a good round, but it eats barrels real quick. You're looking at approx 1000 round barrel life. Depending on the amount of shooting you do, or don't do, that may not be a concern.

Personally, I'd opt for the 260 Rem or 6.5 Creed. MUCH better barrel life, ever increasing choices of bullets and brass, and of course excellent LR performance. The 140 Hunting VLD would be the bullet to shoot.

There are certainly alot of options. I've always liked the .264 winchester magnum. Its reputation as a barrel burner hindered its popularity but with today's advances in barrel material (chrome moly, stainless) you should get quite a few more shots thru the barrel. Also, you have to throw the .270 or the .270wsm into the mix. Any round that leaves the barral at over 3000ft/second and has a MBPR of 300 yards certainly qualifies as a long range rig.

The problem with .25 cal. and .277 cal is their projectiles don't have the kind of monster Ballistic Coefficients that the 6.5 and 7 do. If 800 yards is on the table, a G1 BC of around .6 is going to have substantially less wind drift than one in the mid .4s.

The fast .25s and .277s are awesome for flat shooting out to MPBR, but I think those long sleek 6.5s and 7s get the nod past there.